1. Mitch Morse explains his perspective of today's scrimmage
The preseason in the NFL is one of the most important times for a team's front office and coaching staff to evaluate the talent that it has on the roster. With zero preseason games because of the coronavirus pandemic, teams now lose all four live opportunities to evaluate players and help set the team's roster. The Bills have their first scrimmage in practice later today and that is the best way to replicate live game scenarios until the Bills play their first game against the Jets in week one. Mitch Morse was asked how important the preseason games were to get ready for the regular season and he said that no one is really looking forward to it, but they know the games are there for a reason.
"Preseason is one of those funny things. First of all, training camp is one of those necessary evils," Morse explained. "no one really looks forward it, but preseason games are around for a reason. Coach is going to put us in the right position to mimic as much of a real game as possible. We will still be taking care of our guys; we won't be cutting out there. We are still teammates so there will be that fine line of finishing the play but, at the same time understanding that we're not going take shots on our own dudes. I think we'll get dressed a little bit and go through a regular routine and if anything, this gets us re-acclimated to what it's like [on game day]. It gets the new guys understanding what it's like, here and on the road because each team is different. Especially with the rookies joining the team or the new guys or even us veterans who forgot a little bit, so it'll be fun and exciting. At the same time understanding that if you make mistakes, it's okay as long as you make them now. We don't want to make mistakes, no one does but right now as we work out the kinks and test some stuff out because the coaches are going to be doing the same thing. Putting us in different game-like positions so that coaches can make plays and see if they like them or not and most of the players go out and fly around."
2. Jordan Poyer is ready to compete
Jordan Poyer is a veteran leader and a cornerstone player on the Bills defense. This is his fourth training camp as a member of the Bills, but it is still as important as his first. With no live games this preseason, the scrimmages in practice are the only time that these players can mimic live game reps. When asked if he was treating today's scrimmage like a real game day situation, Poyer said that there was a fine line the team needs to follow to get the most out of this scrimmage.
"There's a fine line obviously," Poyer stated. "There are guys that you don't want to see get hurt and you don't want anybody to get hurt at all. But at the same time, you have to prepare yourself to be your best, be great, play in September and all the way through, full speed football. Obviously, Sean has done a great job of organizing how he structured training camp so far, in order for us to be physically and mentally ready to play. We're just going to go out there and compete, you don't want to see anybody hurt but you need to go out and compete with each other to get ready for the season."
3. Josh Allen's driving force
Josh Allen was on SiriusXM NFL Radio Tuesday and talked about what he worked on this offseason, and what his motivation is for the upcoming season. Allen has been working throughout the offseason on his throwing motion and his mechanics with QB Coach Jordan Palmer. The Bills quarterback also got some advice from some of the league's great quarterbacks Tony Romo, Peyton Manning, and Brett Favre. As much as Allen is focused on this season, he can't put his last game behind him just yet. He said that his driving force for the year is the 2019 Wild Card playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
"[The playoff loss] is something I still think about to this day," Allen shared. "and the opportunities that we had in this game and that we didn't convert on. It's no secret that I could have played better and helped our team solidify a win there. Mechanically I think that there were a lot of times last year, just self-evaluating on film that my mechanics were just off-platform and were out of whack. I really tuned in and then started to pay attention to how my body's moving. I had a lot of good talks with my quarterbacks coach Jordan Palmer, I got to spend a lot of time with Tony Romo at the Super Bowl and I had a really long conversation with him about throwing mechanics and then [Ryan] Fitzpatrick. Every quarterback throws differently and it's just trying to find the right stroke for you. It's no secret that in college, I didn't air it out a lot, I played two years in college and even in high school, I played three different sports. A lot of those reps that I didn't get, that a lot of other guys got in, they figured out their stroke beforehand but I'm coming into my own stroke right now and it feels fantastic. The ball spins how it's supposed to spin and it's going to exactly where I want it to right now and hopefully, we can continue that. Every day it's a new challenge of, let's reset here if the ball is not coming out of my hand, how do I reset and find that spot where I know I can get a completion here, I know I can put the ball, where only our receiver can get it. Day by day, it's going to continue to get better, but it also that trust factor within my receivers of putting the spot where only they can get it and that's continuing to evolve as well."
